Chasing Sunshine
by lost puppy love
Summary: Chouji's innocent awe of Shikamaru begins to mature during their passage into adulthood. [ShikaChou, more pairings later]
1. Prologue: Mnemonic

Disclaimer: I don't own no Naruto.

Pairings: Slight ChouShika

Hello there! After, what... two years? I've come back bearing new fanfiction. My fandoms now spread far and wide across the manga spectrum, and this is the first Naruto fanfiction that I've posted here. Albeit a very odd pairing. Whichreallyshouldbecanon.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Onwards!

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**Chasing Sunshine**

Prologue

**Mnemonic**

Chouji and Shikamaru were sat on a steep grassy hill overlooking the village, watching the day draw to a gradual close. The sun glanced off the many windows, making the tight cluster of pastel-coloured houses sparkle like an abstract piece of jewellery. The sky stretched, fathomless, far beyond the black peaks of the mountains, clouds bursting out of the blue like stuffing through a ripped mattress.

The contemplative silence between the two was broken only by the slow, rhythmic noises of Chouji chewing, repeatedly cramming fistfuls of chips into his already overstuffed mouth. Shikamaru, as always, was laid on his back, gazing at the sky in a state between sleep and wakefulness.

The evening had reached that brilliant moment of gold and amber before the day sinks to meet the black horizon. The clouds meandered their gentle way into infinity, fading where the sun blazed too brightly. The air itself smelt soft and warm, of rich red flowers in full bloom, mown grass and wet paint. The insects hummed in the dainty green cloisters of tangled grass and twigs.

They were younger then, indulging in the pure happiness and innocence of their lives, lost in endless days of play and laziness. Shikamaru was smaller, rounder, his face and body having yet to acquire the leanness and sharp contours of manhood. Chouji, however, was as plump as ever, as if his body was bursting with the luxurious cream and sugar he consumed daily. They were opposites, it was fair to say. But, as in all conflicts in nature, one would never be whole without the other.

'It's getting late,' Chouji sighed. He drew his finger across the bottom of his empty chip packet, gathering the last of the crumbs and salt onto his sticky finger.

'Yeah,' answered Shikamaru slowly, making no sign of moving from his soft pillow of trampled grass.

Chouji crumpled the packet into one hand, examining it with brow furrowed in disappointment.

Looking up, he surveyed the village, the clustered buildings like brightly wrapped boxes of delicious candy, the walls the colour of sugared almonds. In the distance, the warmth petered out into the dark forest beyond, where crows argued menacingly. The mountains cast deep shadows over the spiny treetops, a cold, all-consuming gloom. Chouji shivered despite himself.

'I wish that every day could be as nice as this one,' he remarked suddenly.

Shikamaru's head lolled to one side, peering at his friend with one half-lidded eye.

'D'you think that every day will be like summer?' he continued, addressing the question to no-one in particular. The birdsong began to die away, leaving only the sad sigh of the trees as they shivered in the breeze.

Shikamaru stretched, joints popping with the effort to sit up.

'Ow. I'm so stiff,' he yawned plaintively, rubbing his neck. Chouji liked the salt from the corners of his mouth. He shook his head and got to his feet, helping Shikamaru as he did so.

'You've got grass all over your back,' Chouji remarked, smoothing the stray flecks of green and brown from his friend's shirt with the palm of his hand. He felt with one brush the rigid blade of his shoulder, with another, the large, undulating beads of bone that made up his spine. He touched the graceful arc of his neck, the nape converging with the first sweep of inky hair. Shikamaru laughed and squirmed away.

'Cut it out Chouji, that tickles!'

Chouji's clutched his wayward palm to his chest, grinning awkwardly. He wondered if beneath his own skin, pale and too soft and unattractive, his body could be so faultlessly crafted. He felt like a bulging, lethargic caterpillar next to such natural and effortless perfection.

Shikamaru crept closer and peered inquisitively at his friends face.

'You're thinking too much again. I can tell.'

Chouji shook his head vigorously, feeling distinctly embarrassed.

* * *

The last of the sun disappeared behind the mountains, and the moon emerged amongst the stars like a blot of white on a page of black ink. 

They edged gingerly down the hill in the darkness, clutching at each other when they stumbled on patches of loose, sun-blanched earth. The hill levelled where a tight thicket began, leading into the gardens and shadowy back alleys of Konoha. They scrambled through it, up and over a tall wire fence (Chouji managed this with surprising agility), and into a tiny, endlessly winding street that replied to each footstep they made with redoubled volume. At last, they emerged onto a colourful boulevard crammed with restaurants. Each venue was brimming with patrons, the tang of meat and beer and smoke emanating from each brightly-lit doorway. The open kitchens, blazing with fiery light in the darkness, sent noise and steam billowing into the night like some sort of bizarre dragon.

'I can see my dad over there!' yelled Chouji over the clamour, pointing to a gigantic red-headed man sat astride a sagging stool, surrounded by a jostling crowd of friends and colleagues. They approached him, buffeted by the adults reeling about the street.

'Dad! Hey, dad!'

The large man turned, and upon seeing his son, opened his arms with a booming shout of joy, seizing each of them in turn in a crushing, all-enveloping hug.

'There you are, my little soldiers!' he gushed, beaming with alcohol-warmed affection. His colleagues laughed and smiled appreciatively.

'You see?' he roared, turning to them, 'isn't Chouji here turning into a perfect reflection of his old man? Built like a fortress, just how a real fighter should be!'

'Y'got that right,' giggled one man, face masked and outlandish silver hair spilling over one side of his face. A smaller, gangly young man with a pained expression and a faded scratch across his nose nudged him warningly. Chouji flushed and stared hard at the ground.

'And young Shikamaru Nara! How is your father, my lad?' the man blustered, unaware of the jibe, throwing back his head to take another hearty swallow of his drink.

'He's very well, sir,' replied Shikamaru politely, with a small bow, 'at least, well enough to cope with my mother.'

The huge man's bulk rippled with laughter, and the company followed suit. He wagged a finger playfully in Shikamaru's direction.

'Now, now, young Nara. _Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! _Be mindful of you say that sort of thing to!'

'Yes, sir,' smiled Shikamaru, bowing again.

'Now, then,' shouted the man, turning back to his friends, 'how about we move on for another drink?'

The collective cheered and got to their feet with a cacophony of scraping stools.

'Farewell my lads,' the man smiled, embracing them again, 'get home safely tonight!'

With that, Chouji's father rose and disappeared amongst the jostling crowd.

'C'mon,' said Shikamaru, tugging at Chouji's shirt, 'let's go back before it gets any later.'

* * *

Little more than ten minutes passed before they arrived at Shikamaru's doorstep. The house was huge and old, a lantern-lit veranda overlooking a sweeping meadow. Beyond lay the dark forest, where the moon peered over the trees like a strange, milky eyeball. 

Shikamaru crouched as he removed his shoes, while Chouji rubbed his arms vigorously, warming himself up from the onset of night-time chill.

With a sudden slide and crack of the door, a pale, hard-faced woman materialised with a broom in one hand, sporting a dirty apron and a sour expression.

'Honestly, child, you'll be the death of me! I was worried _sick_ about you being out so late at night!'

'Yeah, yeah,' pouted Shikamaru, tugging at his other shoe without looking up.

'Don't take that attitude with me, Shikamaru!' squawked the woman, smacking his back with the broom, 'you're as bad as your father!'

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at Chouji, who smiled apologetically in return.

'Shouldn't you be off now, Akimichi?' enquired Shikamaru's mother sharply.

'Y-yes, m'am!' he replied hurriedly, and turned to make a quick exit down the path. A delicate hand caught him by the shoulder.

'See you tomorrow. Say, how about we go some place different?'

Shikamaru's mother had stalked back into the house. Chouji glanced warily at the door, then smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

'Maybe… the lake?' he suggested in a conspiratory whisper.

Shikamaru smiled.

'Yeah, the lake. Bring some swimming clothes, OK?'

Chouji paled slightly, but nodded again.

'Right. 10am, lake. Got it?'

'Got it.'

Shikamaru smiled again. Chouji noticed how his teeth were very straight, and white, and slightly transparent like clouded glass. The dark haired boy stepped inside the door, and gave a little wave, accompanied by a mouthed _'bye!_'. Chouji waved back, and waited until the last slither of light vanished as the door closed softly.

Beaming to himself, he took one look back at the house before bounding down the hill and across the shadowy meadows.

* * *

Well, that's the end of the prologue folks. Hope it was a good one!


	2. Prologue Part 2: Fair Sex

Well, here I am again. I'm overjoyed to know that people are liking it so far!

This chapter is the second part of the prologue. After this, it's pretty much straightforward. No more leaps in time, anyway. I just wanted to write this little bit so that you can get a sense of the characters before we start rolling naked and happy in all-out shonen-ai. I like things to be explained first.

But I digress. Less yap, more story? OK.

Dude, where's my disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. There you go.

Pairings: Still slight ChouShika; one-sided ShikaIno. Because I'm jaded and callous like that.

Hope you like!

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**Chasing Sunshine**

Prologue Part 2

**Fair Sex**

Chouji regarded the first time he met a girl to be one of the most unpleasant experiences of his entire life.

As they had arranged, at 10 o'clock sharp, he and Shikamaru flung trunks and towels into a bag and made their way down to a small, obscure lake not far from the village outskirts.

The day, as ever, was glorious. The heat had already begun to saturate the atmosphere, the stones beneath their feet baking like coals. The water before them was cool and deep and green, filled with curious black-eyed fish and great nets of slimy black weeds. A tiny waterfall meandered its way over some mossy boulders on the opposite side.

With an almighty whoop, Shikamaru flung his shirt to the ground, kicked off his shoes and sprinted for the shore.

'Wait for me!' cried Chouji after him, still clinging unsurely to the hem of his own shirt.

Shikamaru had already taken a leap into the water, the still surface startled into life but the sudden disturbance. After a few moments he resurfaced, his gasps reverberating off the trees and rocks around him.

'_Cold!'_ he managed, laughing. He waved an arm, beckoning at the shore.

'C'mon, Chouji! What're you waiting for?'

Chouji pulled his shirt over his head and snatched it across his body in one clumsy, shy movement. The sun planted a hot kiss on his pale skin. Despite his trunks, he felt horribly naked.

'Come _on!_'

After a moment's inner turmoil, he met a resolve. Shikamaru wasn't always so enthusiastic about playing; he might as well go with it before he tired himself out and went back to watching clouds.

He folded his shirt carefully to kill some time, and placed it slowly and deliberately in the shadow of an old tree. Hesitantly, he approached the water side. It took a monumental effort not to cross his arms over his body out of embarrassment.

Shikamaru waded up to him, wiping the lake water from his eyes and nose.

'Come on.'

He took one of his arms in his cold, wet hand, and led him into the water.

Chouji wanted so desperately to have the understated confidence that Shikamaru exuded, instead of the crippling awkwardness that assigned him to being a mere devoted disciple to the most perfect person on earth. But, in a way, he knew he could be happy with his lot; what better than to fly so close to the sun, and never get burned?

Their pace slowed as the water reached their thighs. Shikamaru turned to look at Chouji. He did not let go of his arm.

'You're lucky to not have all your bones sticking out of your body like mine. Don't you think it looks ugly?'

Shikamaru's ribs started from his skin as he moved. His collar bone was highly pronounced, like the graceful curve of a bow. Despite his leanness, hillocks of developing muscles counterbalanced the stark relief with soft sensuality.

'No, no, I don't think so at all,' Chouji stuttered, wide-eyed.

'I do,' commented Shikamaru mildly, prodding a jutting bone with distaste. Chouji swallowed. He found it hard to think that any person would say such a thing except out of pity.

'You needn't be so shy,' Shikamaru continued, sloshing around as the water reached their waists, 'I don't think there's anything wrong with how you look.'

Chouji felt himself reel slightly from the sincerity of his tone. He tried to conjure up some words of gratitude, but none came.

'And besides,' Shikamaru said, grinning from ear to ear, 'you're more fun to hug!'

With that, he threw his arms around Chouji's neck in a reverse headlock, sending them hurtling backwards. Chouji gasped and immediately received a large gulp of grimy water. He felt the tiny hard stones of the lake bottom against his back, his eyes stinging as they gaped into the cold green. Bubbles rushed from his mouth, making the silhouette of Shikamaru distort as his arms drifted from around him. With a tremendous effort, he hauled himself back to the surface and emerged spluttering.

Shikamaru had swum into a deeper part of the lake, chortling. Chouji flicked his soaking hair from his eyes and flung a handful of stringy pondweed at his assailant.

'I'll get you for that!' he yelled. Laughter and the sound of splashing painted the air.

As Shikamaru locked Chouji in a vice-like grip for the fourth time, they noticed two shapes approach the shore. Shikamaru released Chouji, squinting.

They were girls. One was tall for her age, though slightly stout, with long flaxen hair that she had combed severely into a ponytail. She wore a brightly coloured two-piece swimsuit. The other girl was smaller, with slightly shorter hair that shone an odd shade of red in the sunlight. They both appeared to be looking directly at the two boys who peered at them from the middle of the lake.

'C'mon Ino, there're already people here. Let's find somewhere else to swim,' said the red-headed girl, glancing back the way they'd come.

'Sakura,' replied the girl called Ino sharply, 'they don't own the lake. I want to swim here, so I'm going to.'

The blonde set her large bag upon the ground, and strolled resolutely into the water. She set off at a swift stroke, and began to cut a large circle around the two boys. They followed her progress in baffled silence. She stopped, apparently balancing on tip-toes beneath the water. She fixed a steely, blue eyed gaze on the both of them.

'Do you mind?'

Shikamaru and Chouji exchanged glances.

'Do we mind what?' replied the dark-haired boy bluntly.

'I am trying to swim,' explained the girl in a slow, simplistic tone, 'so would you mind not staring at me like I'm the first girl you've ever seen?'

Chouji knew that, in actuality, she probably _was_ the first girl he'd ever seen. The only woman he had known closely was his mother, and perhaps the odd smattering of female relatives.

'What are your names?' she enquired suddenly, wrinkling her nose at them.

'Shikamaru,' the first answered coolly, picking a piece of pondweed from his hair.

'Um… I'm Chouji…' replied the second quietly. He bent his knees slightly to hide his wide, pale shoulders. The girl surveyed him with an air of ill-disguised contempt.

'I'm Ino, and that over there is Sakura,' replied the girl, waving a hand vaguely at the shore, 'I suppose we'll be seeing you in our new classes at the end of the summer?'

'Yeah, I guess,' answered Shikamaru distantly, looking up through the canopy above them, where the clouds roved dreamily overhead.

Ino stared hard at him.

'I'm going to go sunbathe,' she said eventually, and with a graceful movement made to swim back to shore without another word.

Chouji watched her climb from the water, where her friend Sakura greeted her with a towel. She had yet to approach to the lake herself, having hung back through their entire encounter.

Shikamaru's gaze drifted to the waterfall at the deepest part of the lake.

'Wanna try and dive off that?' he suggested, breaking the lull in conversation.

'N-no,' began Chouji, his head still the only thing visible from the water, 'I think I'll just, uhm… sit on the grass and watch.'

Shikamaru cocked a narrow eyebrow.

'Not scared of a couple'a girls, are you?' he smirked.

'No, it's just… I'm a bit cold,' he replied, with an unconvincing laugh.

Shikamaru shrugged and paddled backwards into the deep. Thankful that he hadn't pursued it any further, Chouji scrambled from the lake behind a convenient rock, skirting the shadows so that he could collect his clothes and put them back on unnoticed. But, looking up, he realised he needn't have bothered to be so cautious; both girls, lying in the sun, were watching Shikamaru dive from the waterfall.

Sakura sat with her knees hugged to her chest, smiling distantly. Her lips would part in a delicately amused expression every time Shikamaru performed a particularly difficult feat. Ino appeared to be unimpressed; she glared into the sunlight at the boy, then clicked her tongue and flicked her hair when the sound of splashing water reached the shore. Chouji observed the exhibition and its audience with an increasing and inexplicable sense of worry.

When Shikamaru tired of diving, he lifted himself onto the rocks and began wringing water from the hem of his trunks. He took down his hair, the sodden strands settling like black webs upon his neck and cheeks. A little drier, he strolled past the two girls to collect his towel from where Chouji was standing.

'Ugh, he flicked water all over me," hissed Ino contemptuously.

Shikamaru glanced at her, and she returned it coldly.

'You wanna go get something to eat?' he offered, turning back to Chouji without regarding the remark.

'You're going?' chirped the blonde girl, cutting off Chouji as he opened his mouth.

'Yeah,' replied Shikamaru shortly, drawing his hair back into a ponytail.

'Oh,' said the girl, flicking her hair again. She pouted her lips and widened her blue eyes. 'Can I ask you something?'

Both boys looked at her.

'Shikamaru,' she began, and then, quite unabashed, 'will you go out with me?'

There was a lengthy, pregnant silence. Ino's expression had softened little from its permanent mask of aloofness. Sakura's eyes darted from one to the other. Chouji felt like his insides had plummeted to the ground he stood on.

'Uh…' Shikamaru began, appearing to recover slightly from this seemingly unprovoked proposition, 'I'm sorry?'

For someone of such intelligence, words appeared to have failed him for the first time.

'So it's a no,' she returned slowly.

'You want me to be your boyfriend?' Shikamaru asked, apparently finding it difficult to keep incredulity from his voice.

'If it's a no, then just say it!' snapped the girl, making everyone flinch at the noise.

'OK, then,' he replied simply, 'no.'

Ino looked both flabbergasted and deeply offended at the bluntness of the remark.

'No? _No?_ Why?'

Her eyes flashed.

'Is it because I'm ugly?'

Sakura squirmed uncomfortably and stared at her knees, chewing her lip. Chouji couldn't bear to look at anybody, ashamed at the overwhelming sense of relief he now experienced.

'Hey, I didn't—'

'Is it because you think I'm fat? Is that it?'

Shikamaru gaped silently in disbelief.

Ino stood abruptly, stuffing items of wet clothing and towels hurriedly into her bag. Chouji caught glimpses of beach toys and lavishly packed but unopened lunch-boxes before they disappeared beneath crumpled, sodden fabric. She straightened and looked Shikamaru hard in the eye. Helpless apology was etched across his face.

'I'm sorry to have bothered you,' she said loudly, but it sounded like she didn't mean a word of it. They all ignored the tremble in her voice.

'I've seen you around the village. I should have written a letter, maybe then I wouldn't have had to make such a fool of myself,' she blurted, twisting her hair furiously, eyes slowly turning misty and red. Chouji's relief began to blend with a horrid sense of pity.

'Come on, Sakura. I want to go home.'

With that, she disappeared into the trees. Sakura turned pink and jumped to her feet, slipping on the rocks as she hurried after her friend. Minutes later, Chouji thought he could hear the sound of distant sobbing.

Shikamaru rubbed his temples and sighed. This was neither the first nor the last time that stray butterflies would be unwittingly snared in his web.

Chouji watched him for the longest time, unnoticed. He had always been terrified that his friend would be kidnapped out of the blue at any moment; that big eyes and blonde hair could be the only thing to snatch him away, never to return. He contemplated that, inevitably, the day would come when there wouldn't be a Shikamaru to eat with, to play with. The thought saddened him to the pit of his very being.

'Why did you say no?' he asked quietly.

Shikamaru turned, and to his relief, smiled.

'Didn't you think she was the most awful person you've ever met?'

Chouji blinked.

'Well, um… uh…'

'She wasn't my sort. Way too aggressive.'

Shikamaru sighed and pouted. Chouji loved the way his mouth would meld into a comical curve, his eyebrows deeply furrowed.

'Geez, why are women such a drag?'

Despite the rhetorical nature of the remark, Chouji smiled in answer, but hurriedly checked himself when Shikamaru noticed. He swung a bony arm around his neck and patted him amiably on the shoulder.

'Don't sweat it, Chouji. I'm not going anywhere yet.'

Shikamaru surprised him every day with his level of perception. Chouji laughed, turning his smiling mouth to the sky, towards the clouds.

_People are like chocolate, a fusion of the sweet and bitter. It only takes one taste to know what displeasure lies beneath. I won't be bitter, I'll be all sweet; I'll be all his._

* * *

The summer waxed and waned, strayed into autumn, and their days at the academy began. It was the time when they'd be lumped together, cultivated and nurtured into a band of model men and women. 

The years flew by, and with them the barriers of innocence were broken piece by piece. The new summer shimmered with a new and fractious force, and Chouji, aged fifteen, found his cosy chrysalis dissolving beneath the ebb and flow of a mischievous, carnal energy. It frightened him, it captivated him; childhood fascination seemed transformed into something deeper, darker, adult. He wasn't a man, he wasn't a child; he was half-formed. And, as ever, there was a light that blinded him, a single flame that dominated his very being, a light that lured him forward, led him to believe that death was better than seeing it extinguished. It was here that childish adoration ended, and where something deep and unshakeable began.

* * *

_I walked into your dream  
And now I've forgotten how to dream my own dream  
You are the clever one aren't you  
Brides in veils for you  
We told you all of our secrets  
All but one…_

_Tori Amos: 'Mother'_

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End of Prologue Part 2

Was it good, was it so-so, was it a large, steaming pile of horse crap? Please let us know.

Bye for now!


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